This paper explores how personal experience acquires the status of knowledge and/or evidence in contemporary healthcare contexts that emphasise being both patient-centred and evidence-based. Drawing on a comparative analysis of three case studies -- self-help and mutual aid groups; online patient activism; and patient feedback in healthcare…

Proponents and opponents of euthanasia have argued passionately about whether it should be legalized. In Australia in the mid-1990s, following the world's first legal euthanasia deaths, Dr. Philip Nitschke initiated a different approach: a search for do-it-yourself technological means of dying with dignity. The Australian government has opposed…

Discusses Tennessee's Highlander Folk School. Reports that the school helped organize labor unions and played a role in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. Explains that Highlander sought to bring about southern integration. Argues that successful civic education draws out the experiences and interests of participants and nurtures respect and…

The unity and sisterhood of women in South Africa is analyzed. The struggle for liberation from apartheid has resulted in the death of many children. Women have organized self-help groups in the memory of these children. The groups make handicrafts, give aid to the poor, and encourage educational pursuits. (VM)

From March 1966 to September 1967, participation observation field work in the black community of South Central Los Angeles was done to investigate certain ideological and organizational developments after the riot of August 1965. The study focused on "Operation Bootstrap," a small self-help job training organization, which was a relatively direct…

Describes working conditions of female household servants in Colombia. Reviews history of support groups assisting household workers and subsequent expansion into successful movement for workers' legal rights and social security. "Women's work" has gained some respect as household workers strive to participate in ongoing social changes.…

The training manual provides self-help in six areas of leadership development for American Indian and Alaska Native women. Following an introduction describing how to use the manual are six chapters focusing on the theories and development of leadership skills, the vulnerability of Indian women to poverty, nontraditional careers for Indian women,…